Raiders fall behind after first round win in tourney

Posted on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 10:37 am

Tyrelle Robinson takes the ball to the basket in the Raider’s first round win last week.

First round of the conference tournament pitted the fifth seeded Essex Trojans vs. fourth seeded Rappahannock Raiders the on Feb. 18.
The Raiders began the game in full court press mode; turning the Trojans over repeatedly. The turnovers led to fast breaks and easy points; allowing the Raiders to jump out to a (17-3) advantage with three minutes left in the first quarter.
The teams traded baskets and at the end of the first, the home team was up (27-13).
The second quarter began like the first ended, with a Raiders press that resulted in easy scores.
With four minutes left in the half, the Raiders dropped back into a zone. This allowed the visitors to advance the ball and start their offense; giving them their highest point output of any quarter.
At the end of the second quarter the Raiders were up (45-33). The press was back on to start the second half, so the defense made the Trojans work for every point. In the third, they add to their lead to go up by fifteen by its end. The visiting team figured out the press in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to eight. That’s as close as they got; the Raiders poured in three quick baskets to push the lead back to double digits. The Raiders to coasted to a (74-56) win.
Semifinals
The Raiders faced the number one seated Colonial Beach Drifters on February 20 at Lancaster High School in the Conference 43 semifinals.
The Raiders fell behind by three in the first and six more in the second; this put them down (29-20) at the half. The Raiders found more offense in the second half, yet they fell further behind. They lost to the Drifters (67-55).